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Ocean Microplastics Explained
As we wrap up sampling in the waters off of Maine, Dr. Chris Dupont discusses how collections of plastic particles in the water – or “plastisphere” – may be harboring fish or human pathogens. There may also be microbes responsible for degrading plastic, which are being investigated. Dr. Dupont's work on microplastics is a continuation of J. Craig Venter Institute's Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) program.
First Minimal Synthetic Bacterial Cell
Researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI) have accomplished the next feat in synthetic biology research—the design and construction of the first minimal synthetic bacterial cell, JCVI-syn3.0. Using the first synthetic cell, Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 (built by this same team in 2010), JCVI-syn3.0 was developed through a design, build, and test (DBT) process using genes from JCVI-syn1.0. The new minimal synthetic cell contains only 531,000...
NSF announces new awards for Understanding the Rules of Life
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced 29 awards in support of Understanding the Rules of Life, one of the agency’s “10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments.” The awards, totaling $15 million, demonstrate NSF’s commitment to address some of the greatest challenges in understanding the living world, in all of its complex levels of organization, from the molecular scale through to the biosphere. "These awards get to the heart of fundamental questions about biological processes...
Dr. Venter at Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series
Dr. Craig Venter was a guest speaker at the Whaling Museum in partnership with Nantucket Community Sailing as part of the Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series. Dr. Venter's lecture was titled, "Oceans, Human Health and the Genomic Future" discussing the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS), an ocean exploration genome project with the goal of assessing the genetic diversity in marine microbial communities and to understand...
Newly Discovered Human Brain Cell: Rosehip Neurons
What’s next for exploring the newly discovered human brain cell, the rose hip neuron? We caught up with Dr. Richard Scheuermann on the road to discuss how the J. Craig Venter Institute is advancing knowledge about what makes humans unique. See the full press release.
Scientists identify a new kind of human brain cell
One of the most intriguing questions about the human brain is also one of the most difficult for neuroscientists to answer: What sets our brains apart from those of other animals? “We really don’t understand what makes the human brain special,” said Ed Lein, Ph.D., Investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. “Studying the differences at the level of cells and circuits is a good place to start, and now we have new tools to do just that.” A...
Research Schooner Tara in San Diego Calls for Innovative Citizen Science and Oceanography 2.0
Sampling of ocean life is hindered by the extreme cost, limited logistical flexibility, and high carbon footprint of classical oceanographic research vessels. The Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) expedition aboard the Sorcerer II yacht (2004-2010) paved the way for a new brand of oceanography based on the use of sailing boats to obtain samples suitable for DNA sequencing analyses of plankton. The Tara Oceans Expedition (2009-2013) extended this concept and sampled eco-morpho-genetic data from total...
About J. Craig Venter
J. Craig Venter, PhD, founder, CEO and chair of the J. Craig Venter Institute, is a biologist renowned for his contributions in genomics including sequencing the first draft human genome, the first complete diploid human genome, and construction of the first synthetic bacterial cell.
S2 Genomics Awarded $280,000 Phase I STTR Grant from the National Institutes of Health
LIVERMORE, CA – June 26, 2018 – S2 Genomics, Inc. has received a $280,000 Phase I STTR grant (1 R41 HG010129-01) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute to develop the Singulator™ system for automated preparation of single cells or single nuclei suspensions from solid tissue samples. The system will include single-use sample cartridges and proprietary reagents that allow researchers to isolate cells or nuclei rapidly, reproducibly,...
Ocean Sampling Day 2018
J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) scientists, led by Lisa Ziegler Allen, PhD, are collaborating with Kelly Goodwin, PhD (NOAA), Brian Palenik, PhD (UCSD), and Maitreyi Nagarkar (UCSD) to participate in this year’s Ocean Sampling Day on June 21. The team, which also includes Sarah Schwenck and Ariel Rabines from JCVI, is sampling the water off the pier at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). Ocean Sampling Day (OSD) is an international effort to simultaneously sample the world’s...